Joint for portable railways.



No. 658,608. Patented Sent. 25, I900.

A. H. AILLOUD.

JOINT FOR PORTABLE BAILWAYS.

(Application filed June 27, 1900.)

(No Model.)

LMMM

UNTTED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

ALPI-IONSE HUBERT AILLOUD, OF MERIDA, MEXICO.

JOINT FOR PORTABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 658,608, datedSeptember 25, 1900.

Application filed June 27,1900- berial No. 21,737- \No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ALPHONSE HUBERT AILLOUD, a citizen of the Republicof France, and a resident of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, have invented anew-and Improved Joint for Portable Railways, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a joint for the rails ofportable railways which will decrease the amount of material used ineach section of road without, however, reducing the strength of thestructure and at the same time reduce the cost and price of workmanshipto the manufacturer without prejudicing the quality of the product orthe interests of the customer.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinatian of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of a railway in which two rails arerepresented and the manner in which the rails are connected. Fig. 2 isan enlarged plan view of a section of track, illustrating the manner inwhich the rails of opposing sections are connected by the improveddevice. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the sections of the rails shown inFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 44. of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the end portions of therails of one section of a track; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portionof a track, showing the manner in which the rails are brought together,but wherein the joints in the parallel rails of the track are intransverse alinemen t.

Ordinarily sleepers 10 are provided intermediate of the ends of parallelrail-sections 11, and the improved jointis made by having the first andlast sleepers A of every section of portable railway overlap theextremity of one of the rails, the left-hand one, for instance, at oneend of the section and the right-hand one at the opposite end of the section, and one end of each rail overlaps a sleeper A to an equal length,as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus it will be observed that onerail atone end will extend transversely on an end sleeper A to a pointat or near its center, while the opposing end of the same rail willproject beyond the opposite sleeper A a corresponding distance, and theopposing rail is reversely applied to the two end sleepers A. The railsare attached to the intermediate sleepers 10 in any suitable or approvedmanner.

The sleepers A not only each project beyond the end of a rail, butextend parallel with each other and laterally of the rails beyond theouter sides of the rails, and opposite ends of opposing sleepers A arebent upward and inward over the flanges of the rails 11, thus formingshoes or sheaths 12, in which the free ends of the connecting-railswhich project beyond their end sleepers are held in such manner thatwhen once the con nectingrails are pushed or forced or placed in theshoes the said rails cannot move up or down or sidewise, as is clearlyshown in Figs. 2and 3. The rails 11 are secured to the end sleepers A byrivets 13, bolts, or their equivalents, and these bolts or rivets 13pass through the flanges of the rails. Thus it will be observed thateach end sleeper A is straight throughout its length from one end, whilethe opposite end of the sleeper is provided with an intnrned shoe,socket, or sheath 12,which is fitted to the bottom and outer surface ofthe outer flange of a rail.

It will be observed by reference to Figs. 2

and 5 that the end sleepers A are at right angles to the rail and thejoints between opposing ends of the rails are out of transversealinement. Itis, however, desirable that both ends of opposing railsshould be on a line at right angles to the rails, as shown in Fig. 6,and this arrangement may be secured by placing the end sleepers Adiagonally between the rails of the track instead of straight across, asis also shown in Fig. 6. The relative position of the parallel rails, asshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, is not the preferred construction.

The advantages of this improved joint over many others in actual use maybe cited as follows:

First. The connecting ends of the rails instead of touching the bareground, as happens same time avoiding or greatly reducing the jolting ofrolling-stock.

Second. This construction is stronger than when the ordinary fish andsole plate joint is employed by reason of the small size of port ablerails and necessarily the very thin and narrow material which is to beused in the construction of the fish-plates and sole-plates, whichmaterial is easily bent down and accidentally broken. The improvedjoint, on the contrary, has no minute parts to be broken by rough usage,and its very shape prevents such accidents, the outer curvature of theshoe imparting to said shoe great rigidity.

Third. There is an appreciable reduction in weight in sections of aportable railway when constructed as described andfor the same length ofrails as compared with like sections of other railways of which I haveknowledge, and the fish and sole plates and their respective rivetsbeing done away with less material and less labor are required, and aconsequent saving of time is secured in manufacturing. Then, again, thedecrease in weight causes a proportionate reduction in freight andcarriage expense for the buyer, the said reduction being manifested to agreat degree, for instance, in the case of a foreign buyer.

The improved joint has all the advantages of the so-called hybrid jointwith none of its objections as to wear and tear, and it is adaptable tocurv'es, switches, crossings, turn plates, and other rail accessories.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a railway, the combination with opposite rails,of sleepers arranged in pairs close together, one'end of each sleeperhaving rigid attachment to a rail, the end attachment of one sleeperbeing opposite to that of the other sleeper, and a clamp on each sleeperengaging the ends of two abutting rails opposite the rail to which thesleeper is rigidly attached, substantially as specified.

2. In portable railways, parallel rails,sleepers for the end portions ofsaid rails, one rail end in each end portion of every section of tworails extending to a central transverse point on the end sleeper, whilethe end of the opposite or connecting rail extends a correspondingdistance beyond the outer longitudinal edge of its own sleeper, each endsleeper being secured to both rails and each sleeper being provided witha shoe at one end, which embraces the outer flange of a rail at that endportion of the rail which does not cross the sleeper, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALPHONSE HUBER" AILLOUD.

Witnesses:

YGNAOIO PEON, RICARDO O. MnNnEZ.

